Pond- an AU Warrior Cats fanfiction
by Rolo52
Summary: AU where the cats aren't so personified. They're merely feral cats trying to make their way in the world; so what happens when something horrible happens to the prey in the water?


This is my first Warrior Cats fanfiction. It takes place in an AU that was a product of my imagination; a universe in which the cats are not nearly as 'humanized' as they seem to be in the books. They are instead depicted as a group or groups of feral cats trying to survive. The twist is that there's something wrong with the prey. Meaning, the fish in the water. (You'll just have to find out what happens later.)

**Obviously, the Warrior Cats series and any of its official merchandise/products belong to Erin Hunter and co. This fanfic here though? Belongs to me.**

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It was gray; everything was gray; the sky, the water, the grass, and animals. The environment possessed a certain balance of serenity and grayness. Up above the rolling ground, clouds looked ready to burst from the weight of the rain that was inside of them. Despite the prospect of the weather turning for the worse, all sorts of creatures dotted the landscape- from beetles and ants to stoats and rabbits. There was little limit as to what the inhabitant group consisted of, and feral cats were no exception.

A lean gray tabby cat was fixed down in place on the edge of a pond, staring wide-eyed at the water's surface. It waited, one whisker twitching slightly in its attempt to be as still as possible. A small, moving ellipse broke through and interrupted the surface. The cat's eyes widened with pleasure at the sight, and it quickly hooked the skin of the little fish in its claws. The prey flopped around and splashed with increasing speed and strength, for its tiny fish mind had registered what was happening. It reacted too late, though, because within a span of mere seconds, the cat hoisted it up out of the water, pinned it to the ground, and made the killing cut. One thought ran through the cat's mind at the time: _Dinner!_

This was the game that the predators played. The felines of the forest would sit in silence for long periods of time, flexing and stretching before hunting so that their muscles did not become stiff and useless. Then, when the moment struck right and a clueless rodent, avian, or fish exposed themselves, the cats killed. Unlike some animals, which enjoyed stepping in the piles of blood-soaked entrails from their prey, cats preferred a clean kill with as little bloodshed as possible.

The cat, a tom, retreated into the shadows of the trees, the fish held tightly in its teeth. As he trotted through the forest and headed for home, a nearby bush shook. The cat turned his head side-to-side quickly, and then made the decision to climb the closest tree. It was no easy task, and he almost fell quite a few times, but in the end he was crouching on a somewhat low-hanging branch. Fish still in his mouth, overwhelming him with the involuntary saliva that holding it made him produce, he balanced it as well as he could on the branch and pressed himself against the bark of the tree. The feline was lucky- his fur was very close to the color of the fir tree he stood in.

On the forest floor beneath the tom, a bulky figure tromped around the clearing. _A badger?_ The cat asked himself, silently. The animal below sniffed the air and grunted occasionally, clearly disappointed it couldn't find him. The tom was safe so long as he stayed completely dormant- or so he thought.

It felt as if a bug had landed on his ear, so he flicked it sharply to try and fling the bug away. The feeling, no matter how many flicks of the ear were executed, persisted; the irritation of it also increased gradually, until the cat realized what it actually was. _An itch._ He tensed, hoping the sensation would eventually pass, but to no avail.  
Finally the gray tabby could hold back no longer. Gingerly, he lifted his left hind leg up, and bent his head slightly. His claws unsheathed and were gently scraped up against his ear in a few fast motions. The itch was gone, and the cat moved to get back to his original position.

As he brought his leg and paw back down to the branch, there was a surprising lack of anything there- the connection had failed, the placement misjudged. The tom tried to fix his mistake before it was too late, but it _was _too late; he slipped and fell off of the branch, smacking the ground with a _thud_.  
The badger, still nearby, whipped around to growl at him. The feline was dazed from the fall, slowly gathering his bearings and getting to his paws. His enemy raised a blunt, black right front paw and slammed it down upon his tail, causing him to emit a catlike shriek of pain. The badger was pressing and rubbing his tail into the ground, as if it wanted to grind it to powder.

The tom knew that if he didn't get away, this animal would ruthlessly kill him; he was not a strong fighter and never had been. The tabby tom relied more on his ability to flee at high speeds, and he was going to do so again. Thrashing his entire body back-and-forth violently, the cat hardly managed to break free of the deadweight badger paw. Without so much as a backwards glance, he took off, adrenaline from fear pushing him to streak at his top speed over thickets and tree roots.

After the tom felt that he was a safe distance away- and was winded from running- he slowed to a walk to cool down. The badger would probably be gone in a short while, but for now it was not a good idea for him to return to the area. The cat with fur the color of fir bark glanced up at the sky, which was melting from the shades of pink and orange it had been in to dark blue and purple. If the woods were dangerous by day, that danger was accentuated greatly by night. With a small huff of breath, he chose to settle down for the night under a small clump of ferns. The tired tom stretched out in his spot, yawning and resting his paws on his head. As the last few moments of alertness were fading from him, he remembered something from earlier that was no longer with him: his fish.

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More should come shortly, I'm inspired at the moment. I would really appreciate some feedback/critique from the readers- even if it's constructive criticism- but please try and keep it polite. This is my first fanfiction for the series, mind you


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